Nicholas Barker, Serious Brandy US, 03/08/2025:
Bottle/Sample Condition: Mostly-empty bottle I purchased and immediately opened in May (sampling out most of it after I did so).
Color: Walnut Wood Stain (see what I'm doing here?)
Nose: Long ageing and full-term ex-sherry maturation make this a very intriguing prospect right out of the gate. Many of the folks that sampled this found it to be very armagnac-like, and I can't gainsay those impressions. I will note, however, that this does strike me rather quickly with the telltale baking spice and apple notes that are so common in calvados. That said, it's more fun to explore the deviant notes that are so abundantly present here. It's oozing with wood varnish and balsamic vinegar, which puts it in solid company with Aurélien Touzé and Dan Ohlemiller's recent Authentic Spirit/Aficionados collaboration on the 1984 Montreuil (review forthcoming on that). Those notes also bolster the aforementioned armagnac feeling. Another 1984 bottle from Aurélien comes to mind: Sabine Dulhoste. With a bit of time in the glass, some of the sharpness begins to recede and the promised nuttiness does emerge. It's earthy and dark: some nice walnuts, indeed, and tobacco. I'm curious how this will play once I start drinking. After the first few sips, I'm back and finding a bit of rancio trying to peak out from the darkness--syrupy and fruity. It succeeds admirably, too, because this nose is no longer pure darkness. Ryan Brunner mentioned a curried scent, and I'm finally getting it several minutes into this session. This is multifarious and great fun.
Taste: The apple bite on the arrival reminds you even more forcefully than the nose that you're still drinking an apple-derived spirit. This is big, oaky, spicy, and rich. As some of the tingly burn starts to recede following my first few sips, it's settling into a really nice dark, earthy profile. This is a poster child for giving spirits some time before conclusively judging them, because it's improving with each encounter here. The apple remains a constant, but there's some chocolate coming on that works a treat. I've had one prior pour of this, and I recall picking up more nutty notes on the palate than I am here. Take that for what it's worth. I have to say that so much of this suggests that it'd be over-oaked, and some of my peers have expressed that. The cask is clearly highly-involved in what's presented, but I don't find any of it particularly offensive.
Finish: The last embers of this endure for a great while, and they've got apple and earth. Because it doesn't overly dry out my palate, I find that it does a good job in beckoning me for further sips.
Comments: A bit mercurial and really complex. This one is worth attending to closely from the initial seconds following the pour through the end of a sustained session where plenty of air mixes into the glass. It'd be easy to pigeonhole this given the profile and the ex-sherry maturation. However, there's so much going on, particularly on the nose, that it elevates the experience beyond such reductionism. I haven't been able to try either of the other two initial forays into calvados from Pieter Knapen, but I consider this one to be a somewhat pricy Drouin that ultimately gets the job done quite well. I'm looking forward to seeing more in this, the year of our lord 2025, which is, of course, the year of calvados.
Score: 90 points

Ruben Luyten, www.whiskynotes.be, 14/07/2025:
Nose: dried fruits right away. Prunes and dates, as well as raisins, and plenty of savoury notes underneath. Then brighter hints of sour cherries, as well as walnuts, roasted almonds and hazelnuts. Echoes of old leather saddles in the background. And yes, a few apples as well. A nice hybrid of sherry and calvados.
Mouth: quite earthy again, with a bit of pepper, chocolate truffles and some tannins. Then back to figs, dates and blackberry, along with many nuts. There’s more than a hint of cognac-like rancio as well – this could be mistaken for one of the more robust cognacs. Apples have less to say here, although they lend the composition some round sweetness.
Finish: very long, with more herbal notes, walnuts and some juiciness of stewed pear.
score: 90/100

Benjamin Heinzelmann, Arcore, 02/2025:
You can find his Review and Video to this Cognac at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb8K8pOjVZA
score: 89/100

Notenmix

Christian Drouin is een familiebedrijf in Touques-dal in Pont-l’Eveque, opgericht in 1960. Al drie generaties lang maken ze cider, pommeau de Normandie en calvados op hun landgoed met 17e eeuwse boerderij. Malternative Belgium liet daar in november vorig jaar maar liefst drie calvados afvullen. In het glas zit de derde release, een calvados Pays d’Auge uit 1987. De release is ocharme 60 flessen sterk. Hij is zo zwart als cola! Niet bepaald wat je van een calvados verwacht, toch? Spannend.

Ha, dit is een umami calvados! Ik krijg eerst parmaham en rosbief, onmiddellijk gevolgd door smeuïge origine chocolade en dan een panoplie aan gestoofd fruit met vijgen en appels op kop. En dan ook een flinke dosis noten, jazeker. Dat verklaart de naam van deze release natuurlijk. Walnoten, ongezouten pinda’s, amandelschaafsel en een enkele verloren gelopen pistachenoot. En dat alles gepresenteerd in een lederen zadeltas. Welkom, rancio! Machtig.

Mondvullend en erg kruidig. De noten zijn nog meer uitgesproken op de tong dan de neus al deed vermoeden. Al snel doet het fruit zijn intrede, in de vorm van appels en vijgen, maar ook een gedroogde abrikoos en iets wat me aan tamme kastanjes doet denken. De rancio is ook hier ronduit prachtig.

De afdronk is lekker lang, warm en kruidig zonder je mond kurkdroog te zetten. Neen, deze is echt sappig tot het laatste moment.

Prachtige notenmix… euh… calvados! Reken op 340 EUR voor een fles.

90/100